NEXUS ORECMathew Aldred, 2016with the participation ofthe students of OREC and the people of Oxford, NS

This artwork was first shown in its reduced online form as an intervention on the homepage of the OREC school website on 13 March, 2016.

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The full ​96 x 144" projected digital image was shown in the Cafetorium of Oxford Regional Education Centre on March 24.

It will be shown again as part of the 'Nexus' exhibition at Oxford Riverside Gallery. A 48 x 72" copy of the work will go on permanent display at OREC in June, 2016.

Hi-Resolution downloads of NEXUS OREC will be made available soon via a Creative Commons license for personal, non-profit usage e.g. a poster for your home, or artwork for a T-shirt. Archival prints will be available in April at the Oxford RIverside Gallery and OREC, with all profits going to the art program of OREC.

​NEXUS OREC is the first time that a large scale collective intelligence has been created focused on the making of an artwork.

Below you will find a short history of the Nexus experiments, and the making of NEXUS OREC, with video, animations, and photographs.

NEXUS OREC is part of a series of experiments exploring the creation of collective intelligences focused on the making of visual art - CI-ART. The first set of experiments in November 2015 simply used lines to create interesting networks. Small groups connected over the Internet worked synchronously on artworks, following only the simplest of 'instructions'.

The Nexus 2 series of experiments extended the instructions to include colour, and the first collective intelligence paintings were made. Following the lead from honey bees, decision making was made using simple voting systems. ​

These decision making processes were later refined using the collective intelligence platform 'UNU' designed by the scientist Dr. Louis Rosenberg.​

My approach to Nexus OREC has been the creation and development of new relationships between the students of OREC and the wider community of Oxford, focused around the making of art, and using collective intelligence processes - a 'relational aesthetic'. It has been fascinating to observe these relationships at work, including the visual dialogue around the drawing/painting - the continuous negotiation of line and colour in the making process. Also, it has been clear from discussion during and after each of the painting events that people feel a connection with the work, and a connection to those involved in the work. Participants have had to work in a very different way - negotiating not just with the digital medium, with all its possibilities and restrictions, but also with the rest of the collective in the use of line and colour.

The video (right) shows the making (snap shots over time) of the drawings to form the overall structure of the Nexus OREC painting. These were proposed by 24 groups, and the whole community of OREC and Oxford then decided by vote on the drawing to use, through two rounds of voting. ​

Stage 1 drawings made at the beginning of February, 2016

The artwork process was broken down into 3 stages: Stage 1 - The creation of a 20-cell grid/network that represents the 20 classes at OREC. Stage 2 - The choice of colour palette to use. About 100 palettes were made by groups throughout the school, and after 3 rounds of voting using the school website, but with the participation of the wider community via Facebook, a single palette was chosen.ROUND 1 VOTINGROUND 2 VOTINGROUND 3 VOTING

Stage 3 involved the making of the 20 sections of the painting, by the classes that these represented. A set of simple instructions were given to each group: 1) Reduce the number of initial cells by a process of merging/unmerging to create the same number of cells as the number of students in your class. 2) The overall shape of the painting should remain the same as the shape you started with, as this has been designed to fit into the whole school painting.

The video (right) shows the Stage 3 painting by one class (Grade 6a). You get a glimpse of the negotiations taking place in the creation of the piece (the video has been speeded up).

Were new social interstices created by the making of Nexus OREC? As intended, there were a variety of ways in which new connections were made between the participants. A great deal of excitement was created by the regular rounds of voting at critical stages of the process. This was a 'democratic' way that the individuals could connect with the wider school community, and the wider town of Oxford could connect with the school community. There was of course the new relationships made with the work, and via the work with the others in each group - the emergence of a collective intelligence. This was a central part of the working method. Perhaps the most important new relationships that were created through this work involved the connections between all age groups. OREC is a school with ages from 5 to 18 years of age. I invited older students to help younger students with the technicalities of the process (e.g. how to use the digital tools). We often had a classroom with two age groups working together; Grades 6 - 12 helping Grades Primary - 5. There was a real creative energy around the work.

As well as the voting stages of the process, the people of Oxford also had opportunity for hands-on involvement on the Evening of Art that was held at OREC on Tuesday 7 March.

The first official show of the completed work (although in reduced online size) was in an intervention on the OREC school website on the 13 March 2016. The home page of the site was taken over by a display of Nexus OREC.

During the week of March 14-21 I will be adding to the online exhibition here, with videos and animations of the making of Nexus OREC.

Here are a few to start:

Each of the class members worked synchronously in a collective intelligence process on their class cell. The overall painting was made asynchronously - the class cells being integrated into the overall drawing at the last stage of the painting. This animation imagines all the class cells painted synchronously.

The projection of Nexus OREC at full size on March 24 at the Cafetorium of Oxford Regional Education Centre.